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Speaking to Sky TV show, Soccer Am, Shearer said: “I knew it would cause a discussion with the hand or the finger but if you actually look to my last ever goal for Newcastle it was at Sunderland and if you look at the pictures of that goal, you will see that the finger is in the air.”

The 46-year-old, who joined Newcastle for a world record £15 million fee, scored the last of his 206 goals in a black-and-white shirt in a 4-1 win at arch rivals Sunderland and enjoyed a highly successful ten years at the club.

Therefore it was little surprise to see him being honoured at the club’s home and depite the confusion, the former England captain admits he is happy with the outcome.

“It took a few years to make because it was half-built for a number of years and then it was stopped for whatever reason by Newcastle,” he added.

“Then Freddy Shepherd made a promise to me that he would continue it and make sure it happened, and he did. I was involved all the way along, I approved it and was very happy with it.

“It was a bit surreal because after the unveiling of the statue we went back and had a bit of a celebration and a few people were saying some kind words.

“People were saying, ‘He went to this school, he scored this many goals, he lived here,’ and I’m thinking, ‘Am I still alive here?’.